Places Samir S. Patel Wants to Go

A restored Pittsburgh house of God has been converted to a marvelous house of suds.

This repurposed church offers a more literal way to get closer to the heavens.

A 19th-century subterranean reservoir repurposed as a contemporary art cave.

These layered sandstone mountains in China look like they are made of pressed crayons.

The final stronghold of a king whose feet never touched the ground.

These hellish-looking cliffs in the Canadian Arctic have been burning for centuries.

A toxic ghost town sitting atop a massive coal fire.

A coal fire has been burning underground here since 1896.

Flames have been burning within this mountain for more than 2,500 years.

A shrine of fire worship built on top of a natural flame.

6000-year-old coal fire moves one meter per year.

A natural gas leak provides a flickering flame beneath a waterfall.

As the Dead Sea continues to deplete, massive sinkholes open along its banks.

A unique collection of diving equipment spanning antiquity to the present day.

Mount Nyiragongo has erupted at least 34 times since 1882 and is home to the world's largest lava lake.

The Uros people live on floating reed islands in lake Titicaca.

A surreal pile of colorful junk fills a small yard in an otherwise gray neighborhood.

Ancient rock-hewn town that witnessed key events of Georgian history.

Highly unusual subterranean stupa and adjacent cave monastery.

An ancient capital city that dates back 3,000 years and harbors many surprises.

A town church once nearly submerged by the damming of a river is now hauntingly visible as the water recedes.

An Aztec temple, the largest man-made pyramid in the world, sits buried in earth with a Spanish church set on top.

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.

Following the trail of an old metro line, this scenic path is haunted by a creepy spriggan statue.